Page 137 of Hard Rain

“There you are.” He glared at Whip. “You know, normal people just use the front door.”

Whip smiled. “Missed you too.”

Knox rolled his eyes.

“Charleston?” Whip asked.

“Running,” Knox answered. “A source said Cutter’s with him.”

Alvarez spoke into his radio. “Command, Team Three has Marshal Tauber. Repeat, Marshal Tauber has been recovered. Charleston and Cutter are still mobile. Moving to intercept.”

Knox glanced at Whip. “You good?”

Whip looked at Axel before chambering a fresh round.

“Let’s finish this.”

They turned as one and disappeared deeper into the underground maze.

Nobody noticed when Fierce slipped away.

REGROUP

Axel kept his arm draped across Whip’s shoulders as they followed Knox through the underground corridors.

He hadn’t realized how hard his heart had been pounding until he’d found him.

Hell, it was still pounding.

Losing Whip had taken years off his life.

Probably added a few gray hairs too.

He never wanted to go through that again.

The job didn’t care what he wanted.

Tomorrow, it could be Whip.

Next week, it could be Knox.

Someday, it might be him.

That was the badge.

You showed up anyway.

His grip tightened for half a second before he forced himself to let it ease. Whip was here. Walking under his own power. Already thinking three steps ahead within five minutes after escaping a kidnapping.

Typical Whip.

Axel pushed through a heavy steel door.

The room beyond had been converted into a temporary command post. Folding tables had been shoved together beneath fluorescent lights. Radios crackled from every direction. A large floor plan of the underground levels had been taped across one wall, colored markers and handwritten notes covering nearly every corridor. Two Seattle deputies stood over it with SWAT operators while another marshal relayed updates into a headset.

Boone eyed them from behind the table up front.

Davis looked up for a second.